


Joke's on you

by Blue_and_green_Sock



Series: Joke's on me [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Battle of Hogwarts, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Death, Death Eater Draco Malfoy, Death Eaters, Deatheaters, F/M, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Fred Weasley Dies, George Weasley Needs a Hug, George Weasley x OC - Freeform, GeorgeWeasley, Good Slytherins, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Gryffindors Being Gryffindors, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Romance, Second War with Voldemort, Slytherin, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29166912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_and_green_Sock/pseuds/Blue_and_green_Sock
Summary: Half-blood Natalia White is dating George Weasley - someone who her own mother would murder without a second thought for being a 'blood traitor'.Born on the wrong side of the war, she has to decide who she'd going to lose: her mother or her father, George or family. But it's not really as simple as that, because life never is.But this time, the joke isn't on her.Book two, years 6&7(+epilogue)
Relationships: George Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Joke's on me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2140890
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. part 1 - 1 - muggle chaos

Hey! So this is obviously going to follow the same outlay as the other book (which if you haven't read you should probably read before you read this)  
Which if you did read the last book's A/N you should know but not everyone does so it's going here too.

So again, years 6 and 7 are going to follow more of the film than the book, but there are going to be a few things from the books that I can remember and deleted scenes from the movies that I've seen and liked (yes probably the one you're thinking about)

So without further ramblings on my part, I'll just dive right into late July 1996/ Natalia's first NEWT year.

Hope you enjoy!

Muggle coffee shops had become Natalia's safe place to be without any Death Eaters in danger of walking in on her practising curses or hexes or jinxes or looking at the muggle newspapers she bought as often as they changed.

As much as she had tried to distance herself from the muggle world, her father was still a part of it, and even if she didn't know where, she liked to know what was going on in it. Even if he wasn't in the country, she decided it was better to know who Death Eaters were taking, and they seemed to be picking up a fair few muggles.

She shuddered as she remembered what happened when her mother caught wind of Natalia having her dagger.

"Talia-Delphine, oh this is perfect! I can teach you all I know, we can go hunting together, we can take down the whole world, us two together."

Natalia stared at her, hoping her horror wasn't showing on her face. "I think it would probably be best for me to focus on my studies. So that when we win I can become a master of the dark arts and poisons."

It didn't take much for her mother to completely focus on literally anything else, so all Natalia had to do was direct the conversation or even just her mother's gaze to anything else. Usually, it was her studies, where Daphne would promptly go on about her own studies, what Hogwarts was like in her day.

She blinked a few times. There were only two weeks before she was on the train back home to Hogwarts.

Well, it wasn't her home. Not really. Nowhere felt safe enough for her to call home.

The newspaper she was reading (The Times, the one her father used to get sometimes) had a page dedicated to new missing people, to those that fell victim to the "tragic accident of the Millenium Bridge" with people often trying to theories what exactly happened that day.  
Natalia knew. She'd heard her mother laughing about it with Bellatrix afterwards.

OWL results were coming today. She knew hers would be waiting for her when she returned to the Manor, but with so many people missing - so many muggles missing - Nat was starting to wonder if she'd been so completely blind to everything. If her mother had been involved. if. More like which ones.

Natalia may be naive, but she wasn't blind, wasn't tied by loyalty to her mother. She knew who she was, knew what she had done, and Natalia despised her for it. But she wasn't ready yet to completely disown her from her life.

Not even for George.

**

There was the letter, waiting for her.  
She'd had to do some explaining when she turned up on the front step, but Narcissa was mostly grateful she'd come back at all.

Natalia wasn't stupid; she wouldn't put Narcissa's life in danger. The Dark Lord may have released her mother, but Nat knew he still held Narcissa and Draco responsible for her. Even if Draco was only her age himself.

Natalia wasn't sure Voldemort cared, not with the whisperings of Draco's special task. Voldemort had 'chosen' him for something, made him become more of a recluse than before, turned him against his own mind. At first, Natalia had thought he'd got into Draco's mind, twisted his memories, was driving him insane. And then she saw the black ink. Only a slither, only a tiny part of it when he'd worn the wrong shirt and lifted his hand too high, but it was enough for her to know he'd taken the mark.

It made her blood run cold.

Natalia blinked, tearing herself out of her own mind, trying to remember what she'd read about protection from occlumency, about creating a fortress around her mind, but she wasn't sure she could even focus on that with her results in her hands. She carefully opened the envelope with her nails, taking a breath before pulling out the piece of paper.

HISTORY OF MAGIC: O

TRANSFIGURATION: A

CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES: E

ANCIENT RUNES: O

HERBOLOGY: O

POTIONS: E

DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: E

CHARMS: A

Natalia stared at the piece of paper in shock. She'd passed Charms! By some miracle, she'd actually passed charms!  
She made a note to tell George as soon as she could (being at Malfoy Manor came with more downsides than she'd ever imagined, one being very limited contact with George.) and raced to tell Draco.

And then she remembered he didn't want anything to do with her. Either that or he was shutting her out...

Natalia preferred not to think about it. She knew she'd just end up getting hurt if she did. besides, last year, Draco and Natalia hadn't always been on the best of terms, and it had put more of a strain on their relationship than either of them had realised.

She stopped outside his bedroom door, looking down at the certificate in her hand. She turned it over in her hands, not really sure what to do now, but the decision was made for her when Draco opened the door dressed to go out.

"Nat?"

She smiled weakly.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was softer than it usually was now, as though he was allowed to let his guard down when no one else was around

"I- I passed charms." She managed to stutter out.

Draco smiled, "well done! I knew you could." He moved forward as though to hug her before seeming to remember himself, taking half a step back. The smile fell off his face.

Natalia faltered, looking down. "I don't... I don't know what's happened with us." She looked up to meet his gaze, "but I don't think... you're still family to me. You'll always be family to me."

He didn't respond, but she could read everything from his expression. She stepped out of his way, watching him disappear down the stairs and out of the front door with Narcissa and Bellatrix, and she felt as though he was closing the door on more than one thing.


	2. part 1 - 2 - creating problems

With only a week left until they were off to Hogwarts for their first NEWT year, Natalia, Draco, and Narcissa were all off to Diagon Alley for some secret mission. Or, at least, that's why Draco and Narcissa were going, Natalia had decided. With all the meetings Draco had been having with Voldemort and the other Death Eaters (think Fenrir, Bellatrix, Narcissa and Daphne) Nat had come to a sensible if terrifying conclusion that Draco had become a Death Eater himself. 

Of course, no one would tell her anything, except her mother, who would only say things along the lines of: "good things are coming, Talia, we're going to get it right this time! The end is near!" Things that Nat would have thought only the village idiot would be screaming in the park would say. 

Nonetheless, she had her own reasons for wanting to go to Diagon Alley, and while Draco had pushed back on her joining them originally, there was no way he'd ever piss off Daphne, so she was tagging along. At least to Diagon Alley. After that, they were parting ways and Natalia didn't give a flying rat's tail about where they went.

She changed quickly, not knowing exactly what to wear but not actually caring much. Her natural hair was starting to grow on her, even if she did have a tiny heart attack every time she looked in a mirror and saw her mother staring back. Maybe one day she'd get used to that, but that day was definitely far, far into the future.   
She opened her door, immediately closing it again without clicking it closed as soon as she heard voices out in the corridor. Narcissa and Bellatrix.   
Natalia knew it was wrong, that she shouldn't listen to their conversation, it was private, and she was a guest in their house technically, but she'd already heard Draco's name mentioned and she really couldn't help herself: he'd been pushing her out more and more and she knew it couldn't be just from their fighting last year. 

Unfortunately, by the sounds of the conversation happening just down the hall, she was right. Whatever was going on, Narcissa had made the Unbreakable vow - or someone had made it with her about Draco, and that was never a good sign. Hearing footsteps, she panicked and opened the door as though she'd just finished getting ready. She knew Bellatrix probably wasn't convinced, but she also knew that Bellatrix knew that Daphne was way too unhinged for anyone to ever dare mess with her daughter, something Natalia was grateful for. The only thing Natalia was grateful for when it came to her mother. 

Narcissa smiled tightly, checking Nat had everything before handing her the money she'd requested from her account. The two sisters shared a knowing look before Bellatrix disappeared down one of the hallways that Natalia knew was off-limits to herself. 

"Come on N- Talia. I apologise." Narcissa muttered. 

Nat smiled a little. "It's perfectly ok." 

With her mother back in the picture and as insane as ever, Natalia was now known to everyone as either Italia or Talia-Delphine Rosier. It was quite an adjustment for Natalia as well as Narcissa. Draco hardly ever spoke to her anymore, never mind addressing her, so she didn't exactly know how he was doing with it.   
They didn't speak much, and Natalia could have sworn Narcissa was nervous, but Draco arrived before she could question it and the three of them huddled into their specially modified fireplace, using the floor network to get to Diagon Alley.

"Ok Talia, your mother said she would like you back before midnight. You have your money and account key, be safe, be careful." Narcissa gave her a tight hug which Natalia returned before they parted ways. Natalia waited until she was sure they couldn't see her before taking a few side-streets to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. 

Of course, with their limited communication, George really had no idea she was there, or even if she was really ok, but Natalia was relentless and had a plan for that. Besides, seeing as it was currently more successful than most of Diagon Alley, it really wouldn't matter if she was caught in there. Especially with her reputation last year for pranking Pansy with Weasley products. 

Considering everything, it was strange to find the shop so full, to the point where, in some areas, it looked as though people could hardly move, but Nat just needed to find George. She just needed to see him one last time before being thrown into another year at Hogwarts with the unpredictability of whatever Voldemort was preparing, as well as whatever was happening with Draco. It was seeming more like the Weasley twins were her only constant since she'd joined Hogwarts.  
Natalia scanned the crowds looking for either of the Weasley twins, noticing two redheads next to each other. She smiled, squeezing her way through the crowds towards them. Unfortunately, by the time she got there, George had disappeared, leaving her to ask Fred for his whereabouts, though by now she suspected that Fred knew of her relationship with George. 

"Freddy?" She smiled sweetly, jabbing him in the back with her wand causing him to yelp and turn around so fast Nat jumped back in fear he might hit her.

"Oh! Hey Nat, what can I do for you?" he grinned wickedly, making her suspicious.

"Um, where's George?"

He grinned even wider, "ah, Goegie is in the office in the back sorting through admin. I sent him there so you two could meet each other in peace. I'll walk you over there and we can talk."

Natalia swallowed but nodded. 

He rested an arm on her shoulders, sighing dramatically. "What are we going to do with the two of you? Sneaking around... and yes, I know why. Figured it out once I saw your natura\l hair and that photo of Daphne in the paper..." He stopped outside a door. "But don't worry your secret is safe with me, I'll always cover for you." He winked before opening the door and leaving her alone with George who was staring at her.

"Nat?"

She smiled, walking in and closing the door. "Hey, Georgie."

His face broke out into a grin so wide she thought his face would split in two, but she couldn't help herself, running to meet him and kissing him. It was good to be with him again after so many months of hardly any contact, she thought she might burst from happiness. 

Finally, they broke apart, basking in each other's familiarity. 

"The suit really looks good on you." She grinned, stepping back to see fully, even if he had taken the jacket off already.

He blushed a little, smiling. "Well, the shop is doing so well at the moment, and you know, we have more money now than.." Hebtrailed off.

"Than you know what to do with?" George nodded. "Ok, well Lord knows I've had enough experience with that. What most people don't know about my family is that over half of our wealth was transferred to me near enough my ninth birthday, so I had to learn grown-up things early. First thing I would say is to buy a property."

George stood there staring at her gaping like a fish. "Property? Natalia, it's ok."

She nodded, then remembered what she'd actually wanted to talk about. "oh! And I think I've found a way for us to communicate at school, because it has been hell not being able to talk to you."

George smiled, shaking his head. "That's the Natalia I know." She raised an eyebrow, not knowing what he was talking about, so he went on. "Making solutions to problems created by yourself. No one is going to know if we're talking at Hogwarts, and infiltration is only done by Ministry officials. So unless you know something about the Ministry that the Order doesn't, we should be fine."

Nat frowned, turning away. "What do you mean problems created by me?"

George gently took her hand, pulling her around towards him. "I only meant that you look for problems to solve, especially regarding our relationship. I understand that you're worried about your mum-"

"Don't call her that," Natalia snapped. "Her name is Daphne." 

George's tone faltered, but he carried on, "-Daphne finding out, but Hogwarts is safe, the Ministry is strong, and we will be ok, I promise you."

Nat didn't react or respond for a few seconds, making George worry that he'd crossed a line, but eventually, the tension in her shoulders dropped and she relaxed into him like she used to.

"I'm sorry. I just don't want you getting hurt." her words were muffled into his shirt and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. 

"I know baby."

She pulled away slightly, enough to see his face. "You called me baby."

"Is... is that ok?"

She smiled, blushing a little. "Yeah. It's perfect."


	3. part 1 - 3 - who I've become

Natalia couldn't get Draco out of her mind and he wasn't even there. Which was a surprise, because whatever was ever going on with Draco, he never missed the welcome feast.

Lily could tell there was something going on with Nat, even if she was trying to pretend it was all ok. Nat was a horrible liar, at least when I came to her close friends.

"Ok, Natalia, seriously, stop with the damn tapping!" Pansy glared at her over the table, but for once, Natalia didn't have any snarky response, so she stopped tapping the table.

Pansy looked a little surprised, but Lily was growing more concerned for her by the second.

"Look." She whispered to Nat, making her look towards the entrance where Draco was walking in as though he owned the place (which, if she was honest, he might at this point) making her forget why she was concerned in the first place.

"God I hate his ass." She scowled down at her plate, Lily giggling beside her.

"Two seconds ago you were worrying about his ass."

Nat looked up, "and Pansy is checking it out but I'm not going to do that."

Pansy glared at her, but Nat just smiled. Trying to keep the peace would be difficult enough but with Draco and Pansy dating since last May, she knew it was necessary to not make life a living hell for the entirety of Slytherin house.

Draco sat next to Pansy, refusing to look at Nat, making her hate him even more. He didn't seem to get that she was just concerned for him, but if he wanted to completely ignore her existence, she wasn't going to stop him.

Lily just rolled her eyes at her as usual, before turning back to her conversation with Daphne Greengrass.

Nat looked up as she heard someone mention Bellatrix to see Harry walking in covered in blood from a broken nose. "Draco. Did you break his nose?"

Draco looked up, turning to see Potter before smirking. "Maybe. Why, what's it to you?"

"Just wanted to say congratulations. Even if you can't cut it being a covert Ministry official like your father, you can always go around beating people up and stealing their money."

Draco didn't respond, only glared at her, his knuckles turning white from gripping his fork too hard.

"Draco, just ignore her, she'd just jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Nat laughed bitterly, "at least I know how to do the job properly."  
She knew she shouldn't have said any of it, but there was just something about his smugness, the way he was pretending to be better than everyone else, better than education because he was now a bloody Death Eater, that made Natalia's blood boil. It reminded her of her mother.

She got up and walked out, heading for the astronomy tower. But this year it felt more like a threat to her than a comfort. she stared out over the skies, lightly touching the dagger stepped to he thigh. It was difficult getting it in, with Narcissa throwing so many concealment charms at her it was as though she was walking in a haze. She was grateful they'd worn off at the feast rather than before, though. It would have been very difficult to explain away the cursed dagger with Daphne Rosier's crest on the hilt.

In all honesty, she was trying to pull apart the curses, but it was difficult when she didn't know which curses were used. Definitely illegal ones, though as many as Natalia knew, there were too many she didn't, and she didn't know many of their counter-curses.  
She hadn't told George about it yet, though she knew she had to. If he found out and it wasn't from her... She didn't exactly know what she was waiting for. Maybe to wake up and realise it had all been a dream, that the dagger wasn't hers, that George wasn't really into her. That she wouldn't have to hide anything from anyone.

"You should come down from there."

Natalia blinked, realising she was stood on the window ledge, barely a strong gust of wind away from falling. "What if I don't want to."

Draco wrapped an arm around her waist and gently lifted her down. "You don't want to fall."

"Maybe I want to jump. To avoid this conversation."

Draco studied her face, searching for any sign of... anything. He didn't know, neither did Natalia, but maybe if he found it... "Cast the spells."

Nat didn't move for a second before turning away, creating a bubble around them, using a bunch of new spells she'd found in the Malfoy's library. With nothing happening at the Manor concerning her, she's actually had time to practice spells and learn old ones that were probably restricted.

"Whats going on, Draco?" Natalia sighed, turning away from him, bowing her head.

He didn't break his stance, but the ghost of a smile flickered across his face. "Like I said before. You're like a sister to me."

Nat turned to look at him, her expression completely unreadable. "We're family Draco, we have been since we met and you sent me a birthday present pretending to be my mother to save me."

Draco blinked, surprised she remembered it.

"Which is why I don't understand how you've been acting towards me." She glared, trying to push her anger back down.

He stepped back, wincing a little as he stepped too close to the protective bubble around them. "Like you said. We're family. I would do anything for my family. Please remember that when you see who I've become."


	4. part 1 - 4 - partial reflection

First thing on a Monday morning and Natalia would rather be doing anything than standing in potions class discussing whatever Hermione's amortentia smells like and watching Harry Bloody Potter and Ron Bloody Weasley fighting over a book. And with Slughorn starting a competition for liquid luck already she knew she was in for one hell of a year.

Draught of living death? She'd seen a few vials of it once in her mother's workroom, way back when they'd lived together like a happy family.  
But she wasn't sure she could make it.

Natalia had always had that nice experience of never having teachers bring up her parents - not that they could exactly bring up her father - and compare her abilities to her mothers. She did it to herself all the time anyway, but no one had ever explicitly compared their abilities, told Natalia she was like her mother in this way or that. Until Slughorn.

There she was, trying to focus on her potion instead of the million other things that seemed more important at that moment in time, with Draco and Pansy right across from her pretending like the only important thing was making the potion, jumping from Seamus blowing something up again, and Slughorn had the audacity to mention her mothers' name.

The potion was good. Not as good as others she'd perfected, but good, and she was round enough of it, relieved that she'd managed it. Slughorn came around to inspect, she stood back a little way and watched as he dropped a tiny leaf into the cauldron.  
He smiled and nodded. "We'll get you there. You have more talent than your mother ever did, quite a bit of talent I'd say. She never did have the skill for potions." He bombed to her, not really seeing her, and walked away.

Nat stood there as though he'd just punched her in the face, staring at his back as he tested first Draco's and then Pansy's potions. Her gaze shifted down to her own, and she stared at her own partial reflection. She was getting used to seeing her mother. She regretted leaving her hair now, knowing that was how Slughorn could recognise her. But... there was something about waking up just a little later, something about looking in the mirror and seeing a young version of her mother, the one who had hopes and ambitions - the wrong ambitions, but ambitions nonetheless - and dreams - definitely the wrong dreams - and Daphne didn't seem much different from Natalia. And it helped for Natalia to think of her mum as human. Especially when they were so estranged and different, as she stared at herself for a little too long, she realised they weren't all that different.

"Natalia!" Draco nearly yelled, causing everyone to stare and Nat to snap back to reality, with her hand centimetres from the potion. "Please stop scaring me." He whispered.

She blinked, for a second hearing George's words from last year.  
She pulled her hand back quickly, blinking away whatever she had been thinking. "Sorry." She smiled, trying to laugh it off and failing. "Sorry."


	5. part 1 - 5 - the letter

Natalia wasn't exactly used to getting letters. Even from the Malfoys. But Narcissa seemed to be taking her role of mum very seriously when it came to both her and Draco, and in true Narcissa style, had managed to make her feel both loved and completely out of the loop with barely one sentence.

Breakfast was overrated. Especially with letters, and Nat wasted no time in declaring that to Lily while slamming the letter face-down on the table too close to a second year's hand. "Oh crap, I'm so sorry." She apologised, but it didn't seem to help that she was still yelling.

Lily looked too tired to even listen to Nat, cradling only a cup of coffee and staring at her plate of eggs. Natalia felt guilty for only just noticing now.

"Lily? Lils? What... hey." Nat gently reached across and placed a hand over Lily's making her snap to reality.

"Um... you- the Malfoys, they're part of the Black family, right?"

"Well... you, you know about my mother?" Lily nodded. "Well, we're all related, all pureblood families in one way or another. You... you want to talk about the tapestry." Natalia caught on pretty quick.

"So, we're related? Us two?"

Nat grinned, nodding. "In some way, very distantly, yes, we are related."

Lily looked down, swallowing. "I'd like to go and study in the library." She stood too quickly, putting her coffee cup down too heavily, and Natalia stared at where she'd just been standing.

"Is... is she ok?" Someone asked, diverting Natalia's attention. Daphne Greengrass.

Nat blinked and tried to sort out all the words in her head into a sentence. "I'm about to go and find out. I have a feeling it's about more than just the tapestry."

"Let me know? If she's ok? We're-" she stopped and smiled a little, "she's my astrology partner. I tutor her. She didn't take it last year, for OWLS, so I'm tutoring her and-"

"Daph? I'm going to go and check on her and I will find out later and tell you if she doesn't tell you herself." Natalia nodded slowly, backing away from the rambling girl who looked as though she was in pieces with worry.

Finding Lily wasn't difficult, she went to one of two places when she was upset or tired or frustrated or... anything. The library, or the bleachers. And with Lily as upset as she was the library would be too crowded, so Bleachers it was.  
Natalia was just annoyed with herself that she hadn't asked George to teach her a proper warning spell before they started back at school.

She was sat at the top, on her hands, staring out over the quidditch pitch. As she usually was.

Nat climbed up, shoving her hands in her pockets. Even late September this year was too cold. She sat down next to Lily with a sigh, staring into the pitch. The first year they weren't doing the whole secret midnight quidditch matches that weren't so secret after all. "Are you going to tell me why you were so interested in the family tapestry?"

Lily took a deep breath, and Nat smiled a little. "You're laughing at me."

"You want to know if I've been struck off? Or if my mother has, for marrying a muggle." Natalia looked at her.

Lily shook her head slowly, making her smile drop off her face. "I did something that has been entirely terrifying to me and it ended badly. I want to know if I would have been struck off for what I did."

Natalia couldn't take her eyes of Lily, trying to ignore her tears. It took everything in her to ignore the fact that Lily was crying because some part of her knew that if she did acknowledge it, Lily would stop talking. "What did you do, Lily?"

Lily on ally looked at her. "I have a crush."

Nat smiled a little, laughing, "you have a crush? Oh well, this is easy. If it's a muggle then yes, if it's a half-blood or more probably not!"

"She's a pureblood."

Natalia blinked, trying to take in what was just happening. "She. Your crush is a girl?"

Lily nodded, crying a little more now. "She is. That's," she laughed a little through the tears, "that's generally what it means when the pronoun 'she' is used."

Natalia nodded. "Give me a second." Her mind was racing, thinking of everything and trying to process it all. Her mind circled back to the comments she'd made about the tapestry. About her vacancy at breakfast. About everything she'd said up to that point. "Your parents reacted badly, didn't they? They disowned you? Cut you off? What, please tell me what they did."

Lily nodded. "They have sent me a letter with my vault key. They've.... they've disowned me. Told me I don't have a home to go back to."

Natalia sighed, giving her a sad smile. "Well, that is such a lie. So you have a crush on Daphne Greengrass. Who cares? I've... I am...." She blinked. "I'm dating George Weasley."

Lily blinked. "God we're such messes." She laughed, making Nat laugh, the two of them giggling away while Lily was still crying. "Wait, Weasley? Like 'blood-traitor' Weasley? Oh God, you're going to die. You're on opposite sides of the war! Your mother!"

Natalia laughed harder, "I know and he doesn't care and I tried! I tried to break up with him and he refused."

Lily started giggling again, "refused?"

She nodded. "He said no. No one says no to me!"

"Apart from George- YOU KNOW ITS DAPHNE?"

Nat winced, still giggling a little. "Clearly you haven't had enough coffee if you're this slow. Can we call her Daph? I get very uneasy around Daphne."

Lily nodded, still in shock.

"Well, you were very talkative with her. She was very concerned for you, says she's been tutoring you. It's been a month and she is tutoring you. You're all blushing when you talk to her. You like her."

Lily blushed. "Ok fine but- she's concerned?" She nearly fell off the bench.

Natalia grinned. "I shall tell her you are perfectly fine. Or maybe that you need comforting because your parents are assholes and now we live together because my mother is an asshole."

Lily grinned. "You were saying something about a letter."

"Ah," Nat sighed, bowing her head and turning back to the pitch. "The letter."


	6. part 1 - 6 - in too deep

Natalia stared out across the quidditch pitch where the Slytherin tryouts were about to start. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff ones had already finished, and much to her annoyance, Cho Chang had once again joined the Ravenclaw team.

Usually, she'd just watch with Draco for his support, try to hype him up, recently it had become more of a habit.

So, of course, Lily had joined her on the stands, casting a few hearing charms. Natalia wouldn't ever say anything but it felt strange to have someone other than George cast heating spells around her. Lily obviously knew, and they spent hours talking about their respective partners/crushes, but Nat had never spoken about those late nights at the lake, how she had fallen in love with that damned Weasley.

"So," Lily sighed, resting her head on Nat's shoulder me pulling her out of her thoughts, "tell me why you, the best chaser Slytherin has ever seen, is sat right here with me on the stands."

"Because I am not a jock. I am not a player. And Cho Chang is on the Ravenclaw team, and given half a chance I would definitely pick a fight with her. Doing that in mid-air-"

"Yeah, ok, definitely not a good idea." Laughing, Lily sat up. "Maybe next year I put her in the hospital wing so she can't get on the team?"

Nat smiled, only half paying attention. "There's someone new going for keeper. Who's that?" She pointed to the far end of the pitch, and Lily tried to see, squinting her eyes.

"Theo." Daphne dropped into the seat next to Lily. "Theodore Nott? Was in our charms class last year?"

Nat gave her a blank stare.

"Seriously? The guy has been pining over you since first year, and you don't even know his name? Wow, I'd hate to be him."

Natalia exchanged a look with Lily before laughing. "God, really? Jesus in hell, what the shit is wrong with me?"

"Well considering you were completely preoccupied with someone else, I'd say you didn't have time to even think of other people. And I will remind you that said someone is still occupying you, so Theo is a no-go."

Nat rolled her eyes. "Doesn't mean I can't admire his quidditch skill."

"So, you like quidditch, Lily?"

"Oh, I, um, wel-"

"No, she's here because I suck at charms and would set something on fire just to keep myself warm. But you two can go now, have your secret conversation somewhere else." Natalia winked at an already-blushing Lily, watching them walking back to the warmth of the castle.

Truth was, she missed George so much that her heart hurt to even think about him. Narcissa wasn't helping, telling her all about her mother trying to match her with another Death Eater's son, making her resent her mother even more.  
The war was going to change everything though. Caught on the wrong side of it was never going to be pretty, she was sure she wouldn't come out of it. She wasn't sure if George would either, but she definitely wouldn't, not by her mother's side, anyway. And as much as she liked George, she'd never want him to sacrifice anything for her, his happiness in the top five of the long list. Maybe if she let him go... Maybe he would have time enough to get over her before her inevitable demise.

It seemed all too soon that the tryouts were over, with the Gryffindor ones happening in only an hour or so, but Natalia couldn't bring herself to leave. She was getting colder, the thought of leaving George freezing her from within. Warming spells couldn't touch her; at least not her own.

Christmas. She'd meet with him at Christmas and spell it out and this time she wouldn't be taking a no for an answer.  
But, when the Gryffindor tryouts were over and she climbed up to the owlery, there was an owl waiting for her with a letter, and her heart flipped over so many times she thought it would burst.

It was short, too short, but with everything going on with the Order, the shop, and his family, she wasn't in the least surprised. She only wished she could do more.  
It was only when she looked up from rereading the letter for the fourth time that Natalia realised she was in a lot deeper than she thought.


	7. part 1 - 7 - let me

Natalia sighed in the mirror. The rest of the Sixth year prefects were all out already for their trips to Hogsmeade, but she was a little on edge. She'd obviously replied to Narcissa's last letter nearly two weeks ago, and heard nothing since. She worried the letter had been intercepted, even though there was nothing incriminating in any of their conversations. They were always too careful about that.

"Nat, if you don't come out of there I swear I will go without you and you will have to walk all the way there all by yourself!" Lily declared through the door, and she wondered how she's actually got in; she hadn't yet told her the password for that month (seeing as last year too many prefects gave out the password and it became overrun with non-prefects, it was changed on a monthly basis to try and prevent unwanted guests.) but really? Natalia wasn't surprised. It was Lily; she had ways of finding out any information she wanted to get her hands on. And Nat definitely didn't want to know her methods.

So instead of letting Lily leave her to worry any longer, she opened the door and left it all behind.

"So I hear several teachers have been singing your praises since we got back. Clearly, you spent your summer doing potions and in a library reading up on her vilify theories and bloody runes." Lily wrinkled her nose at herbology and runes, despite having elected to take runes for her OWLs.

Nat sighed a little. "Slughorn compared me to my mother. In a good way, sort of. It felt so strange to have someone openly speak of her and her skills."  
She smiled at Daphne who was waiting for them, leaning against a wall and reading some sort of old book that was clearly only bound by magic by the look of it.

"Hey, Daph. Ready to go?" Lily asked, and Natalia grinned, looking away as she noticed the slight blush on Lily's cheeks.

The three set off, not particularly happy with the freezing cold air that greeted them as they walked out of the doors.

"I mean, we speak fairly openly about her."

"But not her skills. What she could do. That kind of thing."

"Sorry, who?" Daphne asked, her expression full of curiosity.

"Oh, my mum."

"Daphne Rosier." Lily said, earning a cautioning look from Nat, "what? It's not as if people don't know who you are, and if they haven't figured it out yet? Well, then where were they last year?"

"I didn't know." Daphne blushed, looking down.

Natalia rolled her eyes, pushing herself between the two, placing an arm around the smaller girl's shoulders. "A lot of people don't, Lily here just has no social cues and clearly lacks patience in anyone who hasn't memorised the faces of ever Death Eater known to man."

It was Lily's turn to glare, but it was short-lived: she could never be mad at anyone long when Honeydukes was in the equation.

Nat didn't care much for sweets, but bought a few things for the sake of it, trying to occupy her mind now that the conversation had diverted away from anything she understood (something about astrology and Natalia couldn't read stars or star signs for the life of her. Seriously they were just dots in the sky to her.) though sweets didn't quite cut it.  
She was a little disappointed that the twins hadn't managed to branch out to Hogsmeade yet. That would definitely make her year, having George closer to her. It wasn't the best idea: in fact, it was probably the worst idea she'd ever had, and she'd had a few terrible ones over the years. But she missed him.

Unfortunately, not paying attention had its consequences and Natalia was thrown from her thoughts as she walked directly into someone's shoulder.

"Ouch! Jesus, what in the living crap?" She stumbled back, blinking away the pain. It was only a shoulder, she really shouldn't have hurt herself so much by running into it. "I'm so sorry." She blinked a few more times, feeling someone reaching out to steady her. Once she could focus again, she smiled uneasily up at whoever it was. "Theo? Theodore? Sorry, I don't know what you prefer."

He smiled, clearly happy she knew his name. She'd never tell him she only learned it a few weeks prior. "Theo. Natalia, right?"

"Yeah. Well, seeing as I ran into you, you can call me Nat," she laughed a little, relaxing as he seemed to take it all in good humour.

"Nat," he smiled, "I apologise for standing in your way."

Nat smiled a little, "no, my fault. Here, let me buy you something to make up for it. I really am sorry I was so entirely lost in my own world."

Theo smiled a little, not really letting his emotions appear anymore.  
She wondered if all Slytherins were like that or just the children of stupidly prestigious, rich Death Eaters. Probably the latter.  
"No, please." He carefully took the few sweets she was holding, "let me."

Natalia tried to protest, reaching for her lollipops and jellybeans back, but with hun being taller than her, that didn't work at all. She considered cursing him, but she knew his father would not be impressed and she did not want that kind of family feud going on. So instead she stood back and watched him pay, before thanking him too many times.

"It's nothing, Natalia. Really." He gave her a sunny grin before waving and joining his friends outside.

She looked down at the jelly beans in her hand and smiled a little. He was kinda nice, if she was honest. She was a little appalled at herself, wondering how on earth she never even knew his name.

///


	8. part 1 - 8 - don't trust it

For reasons Natalia was unaware of, Slughorn had taken a keen interest in perfecting her potions skills. It had started in their second lesson, with a few pointers here and there, most of which were useful, and then he was asking her about more advanced potions, if she thought she could master them (she'd never tell him that some of them she'd been brewing for years) and then there was an invitation to 'the Slug Club'.

Draco, of course, had an invitation, but declined, saying he had too much on his plate with his family, and naturally, Hermione was offered a place. Harry Potter was unsurprisingly asked as well, and though his potions had significantly improved, Nat knew it was because he was the Boy who Lived rather than for his skill.

She'd thought about turning it down at first, but Lily was completely invested in Natalia embracing her potions talent. So they were arguing in the Three Broomsticks about whether or not she would actually ever show up to the dinners and parties or whatever Slughorn had planned for his favourites.

"Clearly he thinks you're good enough for him to display on his creepy little talent shrine!" Lily poked her in the arm, not touching her butterbeer. Lily hated the stuff, but for some reason, every time they ever stepped foot inside the Three Broomsticks, that's what she ordered.

Nat shuddered, "chances are he only wants me there because of my mother."

"She's not part of the shrine. She didn't even take potions past OWL level!"

Nat sighed, taking a big sip of her butterbeer to avoid having to say anything for a moment. "But she'd very powerful and has powerful connections. Which is definitely why he wants me."

Lily rolled her eyes, "why can't you ever believe that someone wants you for you?"

"I believe George wants me for me."

"That's different." Lily gave her a pointed look, "he's willing to risk everything for you. There's no way he would do that for someone he didn't want."

"Yes thank you for reminding me what's at stake." She sighed heavily, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "Maybe I'll break up with him and get with Theo. Just to save his life."

Lily groaned, "that's not what I meant! Stop twisting my words."

Daphne sat down to join them, hanging her bag and coat on the back of the hair. "What's she twisting your words for?"

Natalia raised an eyebrow, the ghost of a smirk on her face taunting Lily.

Blushing, Lily stammered over her words before taking a breath and starting again. "Nat's gonna break up with her boyfriend because her family might not approve."

Daph stared for a second, absorbing the information.

"No, it's not that they might not it's that I know they won't. It's not something I want to lose everything for."

Daphne considered before speaking up. "Well, ok, I see your point. But your family's happiness isn't your happiness, you might resent them in the long run. That's not going to do anyone any favours."

Natalia was quiet, finishing her butterbeer.

Lily stared, "wow, Daph. You actually managed to make her shut up."

Daphne grinned, "anyway, who's the boyfriend? And why does no one know about him? Is he older? A Gryffindor? Does he have a really tiny penis?"

Natalia laughed, "he's older. But, um... This is a very public place, and if my mother found out she'd probably go insane and no one would make it out alive."

Daphne nodded solemnly. "But does he have a really small penis?"

"Why are you so interested in his dick?" Nat laughed.

Shrugging, Daphne said, "I figured it might be why you've not told anyone."

"I don't know. I've never seen it, much less measured it."

Lily grinned, "this Christmas, measure it. I wanna know!"

Natalia rolled her eyes, "oh yes let me just barge into his house and pull out a tape measure and say "hey, whip it out my friends wanna know how big it is."

Daphne and Lily burst into giggles, making Natalia laugh along with them. "Ok, maybe not like that, but find out!"

"Any more and I'll think you want his dick."

Daphne blushed, turning away. "I've already got my eye on someone."

Natalia raised an eyebrow, but saw Lily squirming next to her so didn't follow up. She'd have to find Daphne later on her own and ask then.

"Whatever, come on." Daph stood, putting her coat back on. "We should definitely get back at some point, and I know me and Lil have a ridiculous amount of divination homework.

Nat nodded, and they put their coats on, following the Golden trio out of the door.

"Miss Natalia!" Hagrid greeted her, "I was wonderin' if you might like to help feedin' the jackalopes we've got in."

"That would be great thanks Hagrid!" She grinned up at him.

And then they heard the screams.

They all turned to where it had come from, nearly a hundred feet ahead of them, where someone was suspended in the air, arms wide, mouth open as though she was screaming.

"Merlin, it's Katie Bell," Daphne whispered.

Nat watched as she suddenly fell to the ground, twitching as though having a seizure. Hagrid went and picked her up, instructing everyone to stay clear of the necklace lying on the ground.  
She saw Hermione reach out to the packaging, and Natalia quickly stopped her. "Don't. Hagrid said it was cursed. Don't trust it, even in the packaging."

Hermione gave her a strange look but pulled her hand away. Natalia pulled her scarf off, pointing her wand at it, muttering every countercurse she could remember before wrapping it around everything, trying to only touch the packaging with the scarf, and carrying it carefully to the castle.

"Someone want to tell me why Katie Bell had this thing?" She muttered, unaware anyone could hear her.

"She said she had to deliver it." It was Katie's friend, the one who screamed when Katie touched it. "To Dumbledore."

Nat stopped, looking down wearily at the bundle in her hands. "Oh crap. Ok, this isn't good."


	9. part 1 - 9 - from, Georgie

Slughorn's dinner was, on the whole, uneventful. Natalia wouldn't lie, she hated every minute of it, but it was just the usual high-end pureblood conversation she was used to at the Malfoy's, so it really wasn't anything she hadn't seen before.  
He seemed more interested in those who actually had famous relatives, and what those relatives were up to than her or the others that were actually there for talent. That being said, Natalia wasn't sure she was there for talent. After all, Slughorn had taught Voldemort himself, and if the rumours through the paintings and Death Eaters was true, Voldemort was actually one of his favourites.

Dessert came around, and while others (read: Belby) couldn't get enough, Nat simply sat and picked at it, not really being able to stomach any more.

Of course, that's when Slughorn decided to talk to people about their parents and connections in the successful wizarding world.

"So, Miss Granger, what is it that your parents do for a living?"

Natalia tensed. This probably wouldn't go well.

"My parents are dentists. They look after peoples' teeth." She looked a little scared, but Natalia smiled a little to herself as she saw harry glaring at everyone, daring them to say anything. Of course, Potter would assume it his responsibility to ensure no one said anything. And in all honesty, she was his friend, Natalia didn't know why she was so concerned.

Natalia wasn't really paying attention until Harry stood up rather suddenly, making her jump a little, earning a strange look from Blaise who was sat next to her.

Ginny.

Hermione whispered something to Harry when he sat down again, and Slughorn invited her to dessert (Natalia wasn't aware baby Weasley had been invited, but she wasn't surprised, her quidditch talent rivalled even professionals) and she took a seat across from Nat.

"What?" She whispered to Blaise, who just shrugged, but Natalia knew he was a little suspicious of her reaction.

"Miss White, what is it your father does? Is he a muggle-born?"

Natalia swallowed, ready for the shitstorm that would probably happen afterwards when she spoke about it. Her family had been the one thing she always refused to talk about, but she couldn't avoid a direct question from a teacher when everyone else was so willing to answer. "No, he's a muggle." She felt Blaise gasp sharply, and glared at him briefly. "He's a paramedic. Um, a doctor who arrives first to any medical emergency." She tried again, this time earning more nods than blank looks.

"Ah, I see."

Natalia stared down at her ice cream. She could tell Blaise was trying to get her attention, but she really didn't want to have to deal with that right now.

As soon as they were dismissed, she tried her hardest to get away, but of course, Blaise had other ideas.

"What?" She asked, tearing her wrist out of his grip.

He rolled his eyes and pulled her around a corner before relaxing a little. "Your dad is a muggle? Does Draco know? You could-"

"Everyone knows. Everyone that's important knows. My mother was looking for him for a while."

"I heard."

Natalia looked up at him, a little confused.

"Just because my parents aren't Death Eaters, doesn't mean that I don't hear things from that side of this war. You forget that I'm on the same side as you."

Natalia grimaced. She would guarantee that Blaise so far had chosen to be on "her side" of the war. "Well, anyway, he seemed to have gotten wind of her wanting to murder him and disappeared."

Blaise looked at her suspiciously.

"I didn't tell him. He read Wizard newspapers, he probably saw her photo in one, read about her escape. He wasn't there when I went home in the summer. I spent most of it with the Malfoys." She rolled her eyes, but hoped that he bought her story at least a little. She was always good at lying, but people who were close to her usually could tell. Then she wondered if Blaise would be able to tell anymore, seeing as they hadn't spoken for such a long time.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts and walked off, not entirely sure where she was going until she found herself at the edge of the staircase in the owlery. She saw George's owl there, still holding on firmly to a letter with her name on it and she smiled, taking it carefully and opening it.

**Nat,**

**Harry has written multiple times to the Order about Draco, it seems to be his obsession, but if you really think he's planning something for You-Know-Who then we're all in trouble.  
I know you're concerned about him having become a Death Eater, and while that might be true, Dumbledore knows what he's doing. Or so everyone here says.**

**On to a little happier story, Fred says you're welcome here at the apartment above the shop for Christmas if you want, while we'll be at the Burrow. If you do stay, I'll visit you as much as possible without it seeming suspicious.  
We're being followed a lot, so Fred and I have taken to staying most of the time in our shop, but mum hasn't left the house for weeks. We wear our watches every day, just in case, though it's proving difficult to trust anyone these days.**

**Congratulations on being invited to the Slug Club or whatever it's called, clearly he sees how much talent you have. I asked dad about it, and I know you were concerned he only wanted you because of your family, but Slughorn has no interest in Death Eaters, and more likely he's seen your OWLs results and noticed your talent for the history of magic and runes. No surprise why he'd want you.**

**I miss you, but I hope I'll see you soon. I feel strangely empty without you here to lighten everything.**

**From,  
Georgie xx **


	10. part 1 - 10 - blind faith

It was probably the first quidditch game that Natalia had ever missed, simply because she was a little preoccupied with a letter sent by her mother about the dagger and the fact that she wanted her to give it to Draco to help him with his 'task'. 

Since the Katie Bell incident, security had really heightened at Hogwarts, and she really didn't want to be held even slightly accountable for Dumbledore's death, never mind if he or someone else accidentally cut themselves on the blade. She didn't want another Katie Bell incident on her hands. 

Draco, of course, had no idea that she even still had it, the only people who were aware of it were herself, Narcissa and Daphne. Though she had a feeling he suspected, to everyone else the lie was the same: hidden in the vault at Gringotts, where only positive identification of Natalia herself would allow the vault to be accessed.   
It was true that such a vault existed, so that if anyone ever went looking they would find one, they just wouldn't be able to access it. 

Natalia didn't really know how to tell anyone that slowly she was pulling away the curses from the blade, and had succeeded in countering two of the curses placed upon it. The only issue being that she didn't know how many there were, and most of them that possessed it were too advanced for her to know, never mind counter, and ordering books on curses and counter-curses to Hogwarts was not a very smart move, so that was out of the question. 

With her mother pushing for her to help Draco on his "mission" (Daphne wasn't aware of what Draco was to do, very few people were in the loop about it, and Natalia had been fortunate enough to figure it all out from Draco's own behaviour and what happened with Katie Bell) Natalia was spending all of her free time reading what she could about how to counter curses and hexes and jinxes in the library, from academics papers, anything she could get her hands on. 

Of course, no one really knew what she was doing, and actually, she wasn't sure if she really was going to strip the knife of all its power. She'd already confirmed that she could restore each of the curses that she'd destroyed with as much power as her mother, though that might prove difficult with the more advanced, lesser-known curses and hexes. 

She was definitely putting too much pressure on herself for it, and for telling George, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it. It was like telling him about her mother all over again, except this time it was worse; to tell him she'd been walking around with a device her mother used to kill people with, since her 15th birthday. Explaining that away could prove difficult, and Natalia wasn't entirely sure she wanted to tell him until she'd completely pulled the curses from it.   
And she definitely wasn't telling anyone else what she was doing.

But Natalia had meant what she'd said to Draco that time: there was no way she was going to follow in complete blind faith. She had a feeling Draco had done just that, which left her feeling guilty, as though she'd let him down somehow, but she refused to make the same mistake, so she wouldn't give him the means to murder their own headmaster. 

So then, what on earth was she going to tell her mother?


	11. part 1 - 11 - in her head

Natalia slammed her Runes textbook down in frustration, making Theo jump a little. "Sometimes I swear Professor Babbling thinks Ancient Runes is our only class."

Lily grinned, looking up from her own divination homework. "She was like that throughout our O.W.Ls, did you really think she was going to change in N.E.W.T year?"

Theo just shook his head with a smile. Nat had offered to let him study with the two of them and Daphne in the library when she'd noticed him studying alone in a corner of the common room.

Nat sighed, saying nothing, looking curiously over to Harry and Hermione who'd just entered the library. She sat back, watching in amusement as Hermione ranted about god knows what, mentioning Slughorns Christmas party. 

"Who are you taking for that thing?" Lily asked, twirling her quill around in her hand, "considering I can't" go."

Leaning back, Natalia shrugged. "I don't even know if I want to go yet." 

"You're going," Daphne spoke sternly.

Natalia glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. "It's cute you think you can intimidate me like that."

Daphne rolled her eyes with a smile, "yeah, yeah, I forgot you grew up with your mother."

The girls laughed, leaving Theo to look bewildered. 

He did know who her mother was, of course, with his own father a death eater, (not that anyone at Hogwarts knew that really, but whatever) but he didn't know what they were laughing about.

"Oh," Lily leant forwards to explain, "it's like... trying to intimidate Natalia is like trying to drown a fish, it's just not going to work. We say it's because of her mother, though it's definitely from the Malfoys."

Theo grinned, "so you just don't get intimidated?"

Natalia shrugged her shoulders, "only by people like, or worse than my mother. Which basically means there's approximately four people who can intimidate me." 

Theo smirked, but didn't say anything. She wondered momentarily if it was common knowledge that his dad was a death eater since his capture in the Department of Mysteries. She was surprised more people hadn't made the connection with herself and Daphne, though there hadn't been much about her mother seeing as she and Bellatrix had managed to escape before the officials showed up. Of course, some had, and some she'd told, but most didn't really pay much attention to her even still. It was... just strange, really. 

"You wanna go?" She turned to him, shrugging. "As like friends or whatever, do you want to go with me?"

He raised an eyebrow in surprise, but nodded, "sure. When and where?"

"Twentieth. I know that doesn't give you much time, but-"

"Nah, it's plenty. What time, seven?"

"Half-past." She smiled, watching Harry and Hermione leaving again, Hermione now a little more subdued. "Anyway, I've got stuff to do that doesn't include me studying." 

Daphne Greengrass watched her with an amused expression as Lily rolled her eyes, following after. 

"Nat!" Lily called after her, running to catch up as she just kept walking, "Merlin, you walk fast."

Natalia smiled a little, sparing her a glance.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?"

"What?"

"Asking Theodore to the party?"

Natalia sighed, "I specified as friends. Besides, what do you think I'm doing right now? Writing to my damn mother?"

"Telling George?"

Nat nodded. "I- hm." She tried to find the words. "It's going to get messy very quickly. So I-"

"No." Lily grabbed Natalia, forcing her to stop. "No, you can't just break up with him!" 

Natalia rolled her eyes, worming her way out fo Lily's grip, "I can and I have to. It's not worth getting him killed. Or tortured. Or-"

"You're going down a rabbit hole you're never going to be able to crawl out of if you keep thinking like that." Lily had to jog a little to keep up. "Look, the war isn't here yet, Dumbledore is still here, let's not do anything drastic until something happens."

Natalia slowed to a stop, all of a sudden looking really tired. "And if that something happens and it's the worst?"

Lily leaned into her friend, "then we will cross that bridge if we come to it. And I mean 'if'."

**

Natalia lay, staring at the canopy of her bed. She hadn't written to George in the end, she had no idea how she'd even say it to him without it looking like she was throwing it in his face. So she decided it was better not to say anything. of course, she'd had to write back to her mother, and had slipped in a line or two about her going to this party with Theo, so maybe then she'd stop her hunt of trying to get Natalia set up with someone. 

But there was something stuck in the back of her mind that made her wonder if she'd been right to do so.

Theo didn't really have anyone, not since his dad had been captured and placed in Azkaban, and now she'd practically thrown him into the deep end with her mum. And that wasn't something she wished on anyone, never mind Theo, someone she should probably be protecting more than anything. 

She checked the time on her clock, sighing as she saw she barely had an hour before she'd have to get up again for another day of classes. Maybe she should give him a warning?

Getting up too early, Natalia decided to take a long shower, think things through, before doing anything else, but that's all she'd been doing all night and she regretted it now that sleep was clouding her mind. So instead she got out and dried her hair, tying it back out of her face and getting dressed, the sheath buckled securely to her thigh and covered with her tights and skirt. It was a little uncomfortable under the tights, and it left an imprint in her skin because of it, but it was better than any alternative, especially considering... well, everything.

Natalia could feel the anxiety and stress building in the pit of her stomach and forced it back down. She couldn't end up in the hospital wing worrying about this stuff, not when everything seemed to be kicking off into motion.  
And she downright refused to let anyone get inside her head, especially not her mother.


	12. part 1 - 12 - patrol

****

Talia-Delphine,

****

The hunt for your father is fruitless, still, but I live in hope to find him. If you have any information, I'm sure you would have handed it ver by now, but even still, if he contacts you, inform us immediately.

****

The Dark Lord is waiting for you to come home in the summer to welcome you fully into our family, though because you will be finishing school, you may not need to take the Dark Mark. I know this troubled you, but if the Dark Lord wishes for you to show your allegiance in this way, you will be faithful to him and to your family. 

****

Plans are set into motion, and I impatiently await your reply.  
I know you won't disappoint me.  
~Mother xx

****

********

Natalia shuddered as she burned the letter. It was risky, doing so out in the open while the common room was full, but she couldn't rest with it hidden in her pocket for the rest of the night. 

********

Lily could tell she was on edge, though Nat couldn't tell her why, so she tried her best to distract her from it all to no avail. 

********

"How come you're always in here rather than the prefect's common room?" Theo sat down heavily next to her.

********

"Draco spends most of his time pacing the Prefect common room. Well, when he's there. Half the time he disappears, no real use for me to actually be there. Besides, if I was there I wouldn't get to hang out with you guys." 

********

Lily rolled her eyes, moving over to let Daphne squish onto the couch. "Hey, how was tutoring?" 

********

Daphne sighed, rolling her eyes. "I don't want to talk about them. I swear I was never as idiotic as them." 

********

Natalia chuckled under her breath. 

********

"Nat," Draco spoke a little too loudly from the entrance to the common room. "Prefect duties." 

********

Natalia froze for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah." 

********

"Gonna say 'yeah' any more?" Lily mumbled, earning a glare from Nat as she left with Draco.

********

The two walked in uncomfortable silence for a while, patrolling the corridors. 

********

"So, how are you?" He finally spoke, his voice giving him away.

********

Nat ignored it, not really knowing if she should address it. "Good. Runes is proving more work than I thought. How are you?"

********

"Good, good." He nodded. 

********

They fell back to silence. 

********

"I'm sorry I've been-" Natalia started at the same time as Draco said, "I know your mother wrote to you."

********

They laughed a little, Draco rubbing the back of his neck. Natalia stared down at her shoes. 

********

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry that I've been distant lately," Natalia spoke slowly, over-pronouncing every word to drag it out. "And yes, my mother has been writing to me an awful lot."

********

Draco nodded as they resumed walking. "What about?"

********

Natalia didn't answer. She couldn't find the words to tell him she knew what was going on with him, why he was so withdrawn, not doing as well in classes. He was still second, sure, but the margin between him and Hermione had grown larger, and Draco wasn't catching up in any way. "A lot. You, plans,... Him." She lowered her voice. "She says..." She took a deep breath. "She says He has welcomed me into the family." 

********

Draco stopped dead, and Natalia was momentarily scared she'd said something wrong, but relaxed when she easily read his expression. "Did... Is that something you want?" He was choosing his words carefully, she could see it in his face, the fear in his eyes. 

********

"No." She shook her head, walking on, forcing him to resume the patrol. "No, she's done it for me, without really consulting me. I don't have to take... it, until I finish school."  
Silence.  
"I know."

********

Draco masked his expression quickly, but not quick enough for Draco to see the fear and regret on his face, and it was still present in his eyes, even if he did look confused and at ease at the same time. Natalia envied him for being able to have that expression. "I'm not sure there's anything to know."

********

"Katie Bell was the final clue, really, but my mother is also very excitable when it comes to evilness, so her letters weren't as cryptic as she probably thought they were." Natalia kept walking, looking straight ahead, though she could tell Draco wanted her to look at him, she knew he wanted to be able to read her feelings and thoughts in her eyes, on her face, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "And apparently your mother has roped someone in to help you. That part I overheard at your house, purely by luck." 

********

Draco grabbed her, pulled her into an alcove and shoved her against the wall. "What do you want? Me to put you in the hospital wing? Money? Your mother to leave you alone?"

********

Natalia laughed; not as though she was mocking him, as though he'd said something genuinely funny. It made him take a step back, confused. "It's cute, you think you can intimidate me when I grew up with you. Please, there are like four people who scare me. You wouldn't make the top ten. Though my mother leaving me alone would be nice." She smiled. "I'm not going to tell. Besides, who would believe me? While I'm not known for lying or causing trouble, it's not something they'd take just on the word of a Death Eater's daughter."  
She pulled him out of the alcove. "But I won't help you."

********

He nodded, staring at his feet. "It's not what I thought it would be."

********

"I know."

********

"I thought it would be... better than this, better than..."

********

"I know." Her voice softened as she turned to him, slowing to a stop. "I said I wouldn't help you. But I'm here for you. We're family."

********


	13. part 1 - 13 - photograph

Natalia had written to her mother a week prior to Christmas, stating that she wouldn't be returning for the holiday, choosing instead to stay at Hogwarts. She'd said it was to study, do a bit of work over the break to get ahead in subjects so she would be top of the class alongside Hermione and Draco (she hadn't mentioned Draco's marks slipping a little) though of course, she was only saying it to play on her mother's value of education. The real reason was she didn't want to leave Lily at Hogwarts with no one. Luckily, no one at home suspected a thing, and her mother had written back saying how proud she was of Natalia for her hard work and that it would pay off later. 

Lily had told Natalia several times that she really didn't need to, but Nat wasn't in the mood to listen to her about her family trying to disown her just for missing one Christmas, especially not once she got George's letter midnight on Christmas about what had happened at the Burrow. 

"Nat- Natalia, he's safe. He didn't even use the watch." Lily tried her best to put Natalia's mind at ease, though she feared it was beyond anything she could manage. 

Nat was pacing up and down Lily's dorm, where they'd both been sleeping since everyone had left, as everyone else had left to go home, leaving only the two girls and one or two other Slytherin students in seventh year. So many thoughts were running around her head, she could hardly make sense of it all other than the general fear of panic and anxiety over not only George's safety, but everyone else's that was staying with them. "Maybe he forgot, you know? Maybe him and Fred forgot how to use them, or that they had them." She was going around in circles now, making Lily dizzy just watching her. 

"No, here, sit down before I get motion sickness." She grabbed her and forcefully pulled her onto the bed. "It's early hours of Christmas morning, you're not thinking rationally. Maybe they didn't need you there with them, there were already a lot of Order members there, you showing up in the middle of it all probably wouldn't have been a good idea. Plus, didn't he say it was Bellatrix and Fenrir? No doubt Bellatrix would have killed you there and then for standing against her, especially with the Weasleys. Let's not forget who you are, Natalia." 

She sighed, staring down at her hands folded in her lap.

"A Rosier showing up in the middle of that, someone would have hurt you, either unintentionally or intentionally. And let's not forget you can't apparate out of Hogwarts, especially not considering you've only just started learning how." 

Natalia rolled her eyes but didn't correct Lily. There was nothing to gain from correcting her than she's known for a while in order to get in and out of Azkaban alongside Lucius, so that the Ministry couldn't track them together and make the connection between Lucius and Death Eaters. Not that that mattered anymore, but still. 

"How about we get a few more hours of sleep, and then you can reply when you're a little more level headed?"

Natalia ran her hand through her hair, noting that it needed a wash. "I'm gonna go for a walk. I'll be fine, it'll be just on the grounds. You know I like walking at night." 

Lily didn't look convinced, but allowed her to leave anyway, making sure she would be warm enough in her jacket considering she knew how terrible her charms could be on a good day, never mind when she was completely preoccupied with something like this. 

She watched as her friend left the dorm, before climbing back into the still-warm bed, knowing she wouldn't sleep much after that. Even though she was never particularly close with any of the Weasleys or Harry or anyone really in those circles, but Hermione had always been nice to her when they'd come across each other in the library, and there was that time she and Natalia had gone along with the Weasleys making Umbridge's life hell last year. Not to mention, they were actual people, and Lily hated violence if it could be helped. She wondered how Natalia was doing about it all, though she was slightly relieved when she'd read who had carried out the attack and Daphne's name wasn't among the names. She didn't know what would have happened if she was, and she wouldn't have like to try and explain to McGonagall why Natalia was attempting to disapparate out of Hogwarts or use the floo system so late at night. Plus, Natalia had enough reasons to hate her mother, and Lily had heard them all multiple times, one more would probably push them both over the edge: Lily into insanity, Natalia into murdering her mum.

She rolled back, staring at the canopy above her bed. With Natalia's birthday in only six days, she wondered how George was going to cope, as she assumed he would now have to spend most of his time trying to rebuild the Burrow, and with also working at the shop... They were really pushing things with their communication, especially considering they couldn't see each other and Natalia had given up the only time in the school year that she could possibly visit him.   
Natalia's plans to break up with him seemed to have been put on hold, and although Lily hoped she'd given it up, she knew there was no way Nat would have just abandoned the idea right before a war where she was so evidently caught in the middle with the delusion that she didn't have a choice on which side she was on.

-

The thirty-first of December seemed to come at them way too quickly, Natalia celebrating her seventeenth birthday and the new year. They had a small celebration, with Lily presenting her with a small gift she'd managed from her savings. Natalia smiled, thanking her friend for the present, as she knew her friend was struggling. As often as Nat offered to help with finances out of her own account, Lily would always shoot her down, and it wasn't as though she could force Lily into taking her money. So she helped by buying books for her every now and then, disguised badly as gifts for various reasons.

Natalia stared in the bathroom mirror as she finished applying her makeup. "Lily?"

Lily appeared, poking her head in the bathroom, "yeah?"

"Do you still have your sewing kit?" Natalia asked, rummaging through her jewellery bag for something she'd been gifted a while ago. (since she'd been seen wearing the ruby bracelet, the Malfoys and her family had bought her more and more jewellery, even some she would never wear.)

Lily looked at her, cautious about answering. "Why? What do you need from it?"

Nat looked back to the mirror, having found the ear cuff she'd not been able to wear due to a lack of piercings. "I wanna pierce my ear."

"You want to- no. You will be murdered as soon as you go home, and if your mother, or any of them, find out that I helped you put a hole in your ear, they will murder me next!" Lily stood firm, crossing her arms. 

"Please? My hair will cover it when I'm home, I rarely tie it up there. Mainly because my mother hates it when I do, she likes me to be a 'mini me'." 

Looking conflicted, she gave in fairly quickly. "Ok, but we're doing this properly." She warned, taking the disinfectant from the cupboard under the sink, filling a glass with it and dropping both the needle and the piercing in. 

Natalia tilted her head from side to side before deciding she wanted more than one doing and placing a few more piercings in the cup. 

Satisfied that it had been long enough, Lily washed her own hands before taking the needle in her fingers, sitting Natalia on the stool they kept in there. "I hope this hurts." She muttered, making Natalia laugh before wincing in pain, doing her best not to flinch away. 

"Holy crap, I felt that pop!" She explained once Lily had managed to get the needle through. 

Lily laughed along with her, "If I get yelled at for this, I'm blaming you."

Nat shrugged, "I thought you'd have realised by now that I really don't care what happens to me. Besides, if anyone asks, I'll tell them I did it myself."

"As if anyone would believe you could sterilise equipment and not give yourself infections," Lily snorted in response, threading the cuff through the new piercing, sighing as blood ran down her hand. "If you get blood on my clothes, I'm going to declare war."

Nat grinned, wiping it off her ear with the back of her hand, making Lily roll her eyes and swat at her.

"No touching." 

She managed two more, one in each ear, before Natalia decided she didn't want any more pain, so they cleaned up the bathroom and left for the Great Hall for breakfast. 

They sat at the end of the table, pancake stacks and bacon and fried eggs piled in front of them, just in time for mail.

Of course, Natalia had too much stuff from the Malfoys, and her mother, nothing from her father (as she expected, she'd instructed him not to contact her, but it was still difficult) and even something from Fred and George (though mostly George). She hadn't expected that, she'd figured he would be too busy with the shop and orders and the fact that his family home just got burned to ashes, but she was excited and happy nonetheless. 

Of course, after the generic rich people presents from the Malfoys (engraved stationery, a dress that she would never wear that was definitely designer and cost too much for what it was, though she was happy with the books she'd been sent as well as the makeup she knew Narcissa had picked out) and journals from her mother along with quills and special ink (Natalia didn't trust any of it, though she knew her mother would ask if she didn't have it in the summer) she was looking forward to the presents from the twins. 

"Do you want this?" She asked Lily suddenly, placing a hand on the dress box. 

"What? No, it's your present. Besides, what if they ask why you don't have it in the summer?" 

Nat shrugged, "if they ask, I'll owl you and you can send it back in the box for a day, and I'll send it back to you. I doubt they will though, with everything I hardly saw anyone this past summer, I doubt I'll see anyone again this summer coming." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, take it. It'll just sit in my wardrobe for all eternity otherwise." 

Lily smiled, "thank you! Though it's pretty, I don't know why you wouldn't wear it."

"Not my style." She waved off the comment, diving into the card from George warning her about opening one gift in particular in front of people, as it had something to do with her personal mission. She grimaced, remembering her anxiety over writing the letter explaining everything about the dagger to him, about how she was trying to strip its power, when everything became too much for her.  
Curious, she put it to one side, deciding to open it in the dorm, where no nosey people could see what it was, in case it was something illegal or banned. She wouldn't put it past him to do something so risky, though George didn't really dwell in the world of restricted books and banned rituals or spells, so she made a note to ask him about it in her next letter to him, which would no doubt be later that day. 

She raised an eyebrow to Lily, how was staring at the package curiously. "I'll open it in the dorm. It seems... well, he said it could be read the wrong way to those who don't know me." 

Lily nodded, still curious, but turned back to breakfast. Soon enough, once they were satisfied with breakfast, they carried the gifts to the dorm, using a spell to levitate them beside them as they got tired of trying not to drop anything walking down the stairs.

"It's very unlike George, I must say," she pondered, "did he give any kind of reasoning?"

Natalia paused, "yes, though I'm not about to repeat it where just about anyone can overhear."

Lily gave her an odd look, but accepted it, waiting until they were back to the safety of the room before repeating her question. 

"It's in reference to this." She lifted the skirt of her dress so lily could see the dagger handle in the sheath strapped to her leg. "It was my mothers, it's cursed. I'm trying to break the curses, so it no longer poses the threat to anyone that it does now. 

Lily stared at it in awe, "that's the dagger? The one she used?" 

Savannah covered it again, sitting on the bed. "Yeah. So you know what she did." 

"Anyone who reads on the past war knows what Daphne Rosier did. Does George know? I'm assuming not because you haven't told him, but then he clearly knows about-."

"I'm not sure he doesn't know, though I never told him outright, he's probably guessed or read it by now." She interrupted, untying the string and tearing the brown packaging to reveal a collection of books that were most definitely banned from everywhere, not just Hogwarts. She wondered how he'd managed to get hold of them, then wondered if she wanted to know. She flicked through each one, briefly reading on a few of the curses in each one, noting that not all of them had as much detail. She wondered if they'd ever been used properly before, if there had ever been any study, or whether they'd had such horrific effects that they couldn't put them in writing.

Regardless of the reasoning, Natalia loved the books, making sure to carefully hide them away in case anyone for whatever reason entered the dorm. 

Just as she was doing so, however, a picture frame fell to the floor, glass shattering around her feet. She sighed, pointing her wand and muttering "reparo" to fix it back to its original condition, ie, without shattered glass. She pushed the books into the hidden corner before picking up the photo frame, raising an eyebrow at the generic photograph. She carefully removed the photo, to see if he'd written anything on the back, and indeed, an incantation was written in his scrawly handwriting.   
Pointing her wand at the photo, she muttered the words, watching as the photo transformed itself into one of the DA he'd forced her to be a part of last year. There she was, without disguise (though how he'd managed that she didn't know considering she had had both of them cast the transfiguration spell before the photograph was taken) right next to him. She smiled, placing it back in the frame before muttering the incantation to hide the real picture again.


	14. part 1 - 14 - Turtle

The day everyone came back from Christmas break, Natalia holed up in the Astronomy tower, watching Aurors checking everyone at the gates, the wards going back up immediately after everyone was accounted for.  
She didn't know exactly how to feel about it all, especially when she could feel the Aurors paying particularly close attention to children of known death eaters - she herself had been subject to scrutiny when they'd first arrived, though now she rarely left unless to go to Hogsmeade with Lily.

She shivered a little in the cold, though she didn't mind it so much; after countless nights of roaming the grounds with only her own awful heating spell to keep her war (her hoodie really didn't do very much) she was fairly used to the winter cold now.

"You probably should be in something a little warmer, considering it's minus three outside."

Natalia didn't need to turn; she recognised his voice. "Nothing I can't handle."

Draco stood beside her, and she could feel the anxiety radiating off him.

"How was your Christmas?"

He didn't reply, though he knew it was a good enough answer.

Nat nodded after a few seconds of silence.

"Mum sent a present for you."

"I got them."

"No," he shook his head, "with me. Technically it's my gift to you, but I wasn't allowed out much so she had to go and get it."

Nat turned to him, drinking in his sunken posture, the way his hands never stopped moving, eyes empty of everything she used to recognise and love. "Oh."

He nodded, looking down and shoving his hands into his pockets in an attempt to stop fidgeting. "How was your Christmas? And birthday?"

"Ok. Got a bit of studying done, got some books for my birthday." She tried to take his arm, but he flinched away. She was a little worried until she realised which arm she'd tried to take. "Oh Draco."

He met her sorry eyes, doing his best not to break, but it was a little difficult, admittedly, when she looked so concerned for him. He hadn't seen that look in so long, his own gaze met only by the few Death Eaters who were slightly unhinged - never his own mother, often not even Bellatrix.  
Draco knew he could trust her, she'd proven that time and time again, so he relaxed, letting her take his arm and roll the sleeve of his blazer up, revealing the Dark Mark that had been permanently cursed there.

Nat swallowed her fear as she stared at it, not daring to touch it in case it created a connection with him. That would never do. Draco seemed a little more relaxed, even as he was showing her his biggest weakness, his most fatal mistake - and she knew it was a mistake. With how they'd spoken on rounds when no one was around, the way he was tense around the subject, how he'd broken down one time about not wanting anything to do with any of it, how he realised what it was all really about, she knew he regretted it more and more each day.  
And his mission... she knew he had a plan; she knew he had probably already fixed it, but was just looking for opportunity. If that didn't present itself by the end of the year, who knows what would happen. Natalia didn't want to think about that. But she also couldn't bear to think of the alternative.

After what felt like hours, she finally covered the mark again, though she couldn't meet his gaze.

"I know you're disappointed-"

"No." She shook her head, "no, I'm not. I'm annoyed that I wasn't there for this, frustrated that when you needed me there to intervene, I wasn't there for you. I could have prevented this, somehow. I'm sorry I let you down." She sighed.

"You haven't."

"Don't you remember?" He shook his head. "I said I'd never let you follow in blind faith. But I've done just that, and now..." She didn't need to finish the sentence for him to know what she meant.

The two stared at each other for a while, not breaking eye contact, allowing the other to read everything from their eyes, expression. It was something that often freaked people out, the way they could tell exactly what the other was thinking, often just by a single glance, but in the Malfoy's house, they learned very quickly that some things can't be spoken aloud, not when there are ears in every corner of every room and hallway.

Wordlessly, he backed away, turning and walking away to the staircase. Pausing, he said, "come on, I've still got that present for you."

Following him down the winding staircase, she didn't really know whether to speak or not. She hoped momentarily that they wouldn't be caught for the sake of having to have detention together - they may think of each other as family, but really, they were so distant now it was difficult to know how to proceed with many situations they found themselves in, most notably prefect duties.  
They made their way fairly quickly to the dungeons, letting themselves into the Slytherin common room, Draco going first to make sure no one was up there that would catch them or rat them out to any of the professors.  
Once given the all-clear, she made her way up the stairs to his dorm, knowing if someone walked in now, they would be done for, but she decided to worry about that if it did happen. Luckily, she made it up the staircase and into his dorm without anyone coming in, everyone presumably at the feast, and sat expectantly on his bed.

"Ok, you ready?" Draco asked, crouching on the floor in front of the bed, holding what Nat could only assume was this mysterious gift he'd got for her.

She nodded, her face lighting up as he presented her with a kitten no more than six months old with a silver ribbon tied loosely around her neck. "Ohhh!" She cooed, gently taking the cat into her hands and cradling it as it batted its paws at her hair. "Aren't you the most precious thing!" She couldn't stop smiling at the tiny cat. "What's her name? Is it a girl or a boy?"

Draco shrugged, "a girl, but I've not given her a name, just been calling her kitty for the past few days."

Natalia looked up at him, eyes shining with happiness, "she's perfect. Thank you."

Draco smiled, sitting beside her, not too close, but close enough. "Well, your dad took your other one with him, and I thought you could do with some company from time to time. Plus, I know you've always wanted one for yourself."

"I think I'll name her Turtle."

There was a beat of silence where Draco seemed to be contemplating life. "I nearly regret letting you choose the name now."

"Hey!" She pouted, but couldn't keep it up for long, setting Turtle on the bed to roam about. Leaning into Draco, she watched her new kitten curiously rolling across the sheets, probably leaving cat hair everywhere. "Thank you. Really, thank you."

He smiled, wrapping an arm around her. "It's ok. Besides, seeing you happy..." He wasn't able to finish the rest of the sentence, though Natalia didn't know what he was going to say. He sighed, only finishing the sentence after a few minutes of Nat prompting him. "Seeing you happy makes me feel better. Making you happy seems to be the only good thing I can do right now."

Turning to face him, Nat studied his face, learning he was completely serious, helplessness building in her chest as she tried to think of ways to fix the mess he'd been forced into. "You're a good guy caught in a bad situation, that doesn't make you a bad guy. It just means that the people around you responsible for keeping you safe have failed. That is not a reflection on you." She turned back to watching Turtle just in time to see her pouncing on her shoe.

"Turtle, that isn't food!" Draco sighed, carefully pulling her away. "Clearly someone's hungry." 


End file.
